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Randolph Neal Seamster’s family wants answers.
Seamster, 22, of Pelham, N.C., was shot and killed by a member of a Halifax, South Boston and Virginia State Police Regional Narcotic/Gang Enforcement task force, at Sheetz in South Boston, on Wednesday night, according to state police.
Seamster’s aunt, Angela Meredith, answered the phone at the family’s Pelham home Saturday and said she has been designated the family spokesperson about Seamster’s death.
Meredith said the family was originally told by a police official that Seamster was not a target in the task force’s investigation. Since then, she said, the official is no longer returning the family’s calls.
Meredith said Seamster and a female friend had stopped at Sheetz on their way to Buggs Island, near Clarksville, where he was starting a new job Thursday.
She said the family has been told Seamster purchased rolling papers and that officers saw he had marijuana.
“I understand pot is illegal, but he wasn’t a drug dealer; he had enough pot on him to roll a joint,” Meredith said. “He wasn’t a drug dealer or a gang member.”
She said three of the plain-clothed officers approached the vehicle Seamster was driving, scaring him and his companion.
“They thought they were being carjacked,” Meredith said. “He threw the car in reverse, and clipped two of the (three men who had approached). The third man shot him through the windshield.”
She said none of the officers identified themselves as they approached.
“You don’t shoot and kill an unarmed 22-year-old just because he had marijuana,” Meredith said. “He had no weapons whatsoever. All he had on him was $2.30 and enough pot for a joint.”
Sgt. Dave Cooper, of the Virginia State Police, said Saturday that the incident is still under investigation.
Asked if Seamster had any weapons on him when he was killed, Cooper said, “I can’t release that information at this time.”
Meredith admitted Seamster has had some run-ins with law enforcement before, and has been convicted of DUI, assault and possession of marijuana.
She said reports that he attempted to kill the officers are wrong, and the reports released so far have “ruined the reputation of a 22-year-old kid.”
“If you’re a plain-clothes officer and approach someone, you should have the common sense to identify yourself as an officer,” Meredith said. “They know they’ve messed up.”
Contact Denice Thibodeau at or (434) 791-7985.
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Reader Reactions
nanacoleman1’s comments are understandable. Sure there are plenty of “kids” that have run into trouble with the law and there are still even more that have not run into the law. The fact remains that the probable cause that an officer has is the fact that rolling papers were purchased, we call that reasonable suspicion. Then there is a law that is called a Terry stop that allows an officer to approach anyone to identify them, as long as the person feels free to leave. Obviously the officers were in their right to do this. If, in fact, they saw that this person was placing marijuana into the rolling papers then that is enough probable cause based on an officers training and experience to follow up with an investigation. I would ask you nana, have you ever seen a “kid” buy a blunt? It sure isn’t because they like a good cigar. I have countless stories of cars that have been pulled over with “kids” in them and all in the floor board and seats and even the “kids” lay the insides of the blunts or cigars. I have little sympathy for a drug user or drug pusher. I lost a friend who was doing his job by a drug user. He was a good man, husband and father. I am sorry for the family but I will not put a person on high that by all accounts attempted to run over, and I am pretty sure of this, but just one but several officers who were displaying a badge and more than likely yelling police or sheriff’s office. So nana, as you sit back and “eat your doughnut” and complain about law enforcement, look out your front window and tell me what you have done to prevent pushers and users from stealing our society. I know my friend was trying to make a difference as was I.
MY PRAYERS ARE WITH THIS FAMILY. WE ARE LOSING OUR YOUTH IN DANVILLE ON A WEEKLY BASIS. THIS YOUNG MAN’S LIFE MIGHT NOT MEAN MUCH TO AN EARTHLY JUDGE PANEL BUT I FEEL THIS FAMILIES PAIN. AS I READ THE ARTICLE LET’S GET THE FACT’S STRAIGHT 1)OFFICERS MUST IDENTIFY THEMSELVES 2)IF THIS YOUNG MAN WAS NOT A TARGET AND OFFICERS SAW MARIJUANA ON HIM IN THE STORE WHILE PURCHUSING PAPERS DID THEY NOT USE PROBABLE CAUSE WHILE HE WAS IN THE STORE.3)WERE THE TASK FORCE STACKING OUT SHEETZ OR WERE THEY JUST EATING DOUGHNUTS? SOMEHOW THIS SITUATION SHOULD HAVE BEEN HANDLED DIFFERENT, THIS WASN’T A ROOKIE COP THIS WAS A TRAINED TASK FORCE. DON’T THEY WALK AROUND WITH (DEA)IDENTIFABLE? SO THIS KID DIED FOR A JOINT AND 2 BUCKS. OR DID THE OFFICERS SEE THE PAPERS AND DECIDED TO MAKE A BIG BUST. ALSO ON THE COMMENT ABOUT THE YOUNG MAN STARTING A NEW JOB WELL YOU SHOW ME A PERFECT KID WHO HASN’T DONE SOMETHING. I’M SURE YOU DO NOT LIVE IN A PERFECT FAMILY. THAT WAS SOMEONE’S CHILD! SHE IS NOT TAKING UP FOR HIS ALLEDGED ACTIONS NOR AM I. I’M SURE SHE WOULD HAVE PREFERRED A TRIP TO JAIL THAN A GRAVEYARD. I HOPE THIS FAMILY FINDS COMFORT THAT WHILE WE MAY NOT EVER KNOW FROM MAN WE SERVE A GOD THAT SITS HIGH AND LOOKS LOW AND I PRAY HE COMFORTS YOU.
Not saying that the police were wrong in wanting to question this young man, but what would you do if someone approached you with guns drawn, and they are not in law enforcement uniforms, nor identify themselves as police? With the cost of cigarettes continually going up, many people now roll their own. Was the legal purchase of legal rolling paper, a catalyst for this tragedy? The use of undercovers for surveillance and intelligence gathering is okay, but leave the pull overs and stopping to uniformed people in marked cars. Some people point fingers and say he was no angel, but this might well have been their son.
I can certainly understand the grief that this family is going through - however, it sounds like the officers did what they had to do to protect themselves. How do you know that he thought that this was an attempted carjacking? I am sure the cops saw it as he was attempting to hit them and applied whatever force was needed.
If a vehicle is put into gear and the driver attempts to hit someone, that is considered deadly force by the driver. It is based on the officers training and experience to know that this has happened in the past. And by the way driving while intoxicated includes being on drugs as well as alcohol. The comment that he had been in trouble with the law before should be evident that there is little regard for any law. Even the fact that he was to start a job soon would be further cause for concern. Not too much respect for the employer who showed the faith to hire him or the people that he was to help in the job.
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